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When reading through various Messianic web-sites, one often comes to Messianic claims that the rabbis have either removed Isaiah 53 from the Bible or decided to leave it out as a Haftorah portion because they feared that it would lead people to Jesus. But is it true? Did the rabbis actually remove the chapter from the Bible or deliberately leave out Isaiah 53 from the Haftorahs? This essay will explore these claims and demonstrate how both of these claims are false.
The first, and perhaps more serious accusation, is that the rabbis removed Isaiah 53 completely from the Jewish Bible. One of my friends who had previously been involved in the Messianic movement before coming to Judaism said that the leader of the Messianic congregation he attended stated that if you look at the Bible in the pews of a Jewish synagogue, you will not find Isaiah 53, showing how the rabbis clearly removed the chapter. In reality, the accusation is quite absurd. If you look in the pews of a Jewish synagogue, you will find two books: a Siddur (the Jewish prayerbook) and the Pentateuch. The Pentateach is the the Torah (the first five books of the Bible, often called the Five Books of Moses) and the associated Haftorah readings from the Books of Prophets and Writings. The Pentateuch is not the entire Bible. If you look at a Jewish Bible, you will find that Isaiah 53 is located in the same spot it has always existed, namely, in between chapters 52 and 54. The Messianic leader relies on the individual's lack of knowledge of the books in a synagogue to sell this false claim.
The second, more common, claim is that the rabbis left out Isaiah 53 as a Haftorah, in "fear" that the Jewish people would accept Jesus after reading it. However, a quick historical review shows this claim to be ridiculous. The Haftorah is a reading from either the Books of Prophets or Writings that is generally thematically related to the Torah portion of the week (there are some special cases related to holidays or memorial days that a reading is chosen to match the time rather than the Torah reading). The tradition of reading the Haftorah began during Greek times, when the Jews were forbidden to read the Torah by the Greek rulers, who regularly threatened to kill Jews who did not follow the Greek decrees. However, the Books of Prophets and Writings were not banned, so the rabbis chose readings that were in some way similar to the Torah reading of that week. This system was developed over 2,150 years ago-more than a century prior to Jesus even being born! How could the rabbis "leave out" a chapter as a Haftorah in "fear" of people accepting Jesus, when no one at that time had even heard of him? In light of the history of the Haftorah, it is obviously an absurd claim. There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them: Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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